


Worth It

by Westgate (Harkpad)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Archery team Clint, College, First Meeting, M/M, Students, librarian Phil, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 20:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4151703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harkpad/pseuds/Westgate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil just wants to get through his nights as a student worker at the library to pay for his textbooks. Clint just needs to pass Biology to keep his scholarship. Phil has to wake a sleeping Clint, and that turns out to be the best thing his job has done for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> Got a little long for tumblr. Love me some collegeAUs with these guys.

Another cart of books to shelf, another frantic student looking for just the right article for their twenty page research paper fifteen minutes before they close, and Phil was tired. Exhausted, really, but he still had ten minutes left on his shift before the library closed, and it was always the most annoying ten minutes of the night.

"No, you can't photocopy the whole book," he'd say. "You have to leave and come back tomorrow." Or, "No, taking pictures with your phone is still a copyright violation." Or, "Oh, man. You guys need to stop making out now. We're closing."

He's just trying to pay for his stupid textbooks with this job.

Tonight, he had to deal with his absolute least favorite: a sleeping student. The guy was wearing a tight red t-shirt that stretched across his muscled shoulders and his sandy blond hair brushed his neck; his head was down on his crossed arms on top of a biology textbook. Phil thought he might be drooling.

This was the scenario that always made him wonder if the job was worth it.

Phil approached softly and leaned over - he was never sure how to do this for someone - and said, "Hey, wake up, okay?"

When the guy shot out of his chair like one of the local cockroaches had scurried across his hand, he shoved himself backward hard enough that he sent Phil stumbling backward.

"Oh, shit," the guy said, and he reached out to keep Phil from falling over. He gripped Phil's wrist with a strong hand, and Phil righted himself and stood up with a scowl, rubbing where the guy had gripped a little too tightly.

"We're closing," Phil said. "You need to pack up." He looked at the guy and might've actually sighed.

He was adorable. His hair was sticking up like spilled straws, and his eyes were a gorgeous blend of blue and green, and he furrowed his brow like he was worried about Phil, which sent a spark through Phil that just annoyed him more. He didn't need to crush on some random dude who looked like he could bench press Phil with one hand but also looked a little like a small puppy who could use some serious snuggling.

A hopeless crush was _not_ something Phil Coulson, eternally single junior at NYU needed. What he needed was to finish his degree and convince Nick or Melinda or Jasper to go to grad school with him at Northwestern, so he could go back home and live in a place where people made sense.

"I'm sorry," adorable dude said, and fuck if his voice wasn't sexy with sleep. "Are you okay?"

Phil blushed a little. Of course he's sore from getting knocked over by an exhausted patron, but how does the guy know? Does Phil look like a wimp? He'd rather not answer that, so he said, "Yeah, I'm okay. But we're closing and you have to go."

"Yeah, right. Sorry again. Biology is kicking my ass, and if I don't pass the midterm with at least a B I'm gonna get kicked off the archery team and lose my schol -" He stopped. He blushed to match his shirt and shrugged. "Sorry. Too much information. Getting out of here now so you can meet your girlfriend after work like you probably want to."

Phil cocked his head, and because his mouth had apparently missed the memo about common sense and staying shut when dealing with hot guys, he replied, "I'm eternally single and not really interested in girlfriends, so you're not messing anything up. Just," he added with an awkward smile, "I was looking forward to crashing on my couch with the new Trail Hawk game later. Exciting stuff."

The guy got an odd look on his face, like he was trying to decide between saying two different things, and settled on a simple, "Oh. That game is kick ass. Have a good time." He shoved his books in his backpack and left with a wave.

Phil failed miserably at the game later.

The next night he was back on his shift, and he couldn't help but look for the guy who was apparently an archer.

Phil might've looked up the college archery team on the school website, and now he knows that he was talking to Clint Barton, a major in Social Work, and the lead archer on the team. He''d made junior Olympics as a high school senior and took gold in all of his competitions, and the college was apparently banking on him making the Olympic team next year.

And Phil had announced his relationship status and video game nerd status within five minutes of meeting him. So he was keeping an eye out for him, but mostly so he could avoid him. After helping a freshman navigate the actual book section for their very first time in their life, he made it through the night just shelving books and movies without talking to anyone.

He got a break around nine and collapsed in a chair in the library lounge, and was woken by a soft kick to his shoe. He looked up and saw Clint Barton standing over him with a crooked smile on his face. Tonight he had on dark blue jeans and a faded green t-shirt with a band name Phil couldn't even read.

"Hey, I bet you didn't mean to fall asleep here, so I thought I'd wake you and make it look like you were helping me so you don't get in trouble," he said, and his voice was light and loose, like he was an old friend helping a buddy out.

Phil stood up quickly and ran a hand through his too thin brown hair. He was going to be bald by forty, he just knew it. "Oh," he answered, and tried to gather his sleepy thoughts and bury the burning attraction that flared at the sight of Clint's adorable face when he woke. "Okay, sure. Thanks."

They stood awkwardly next to each other for a moment before Clint cleared his throat and said with a shrug, "Well, I do have to come up with a research question for my English class tomorrow."

"Yeah?" Phil replied. "What's the topic?" This he could do. He wasn't technically a research librarian - just a student worker trying to pay for his books each semester - but he picked up on things and had been working at the library since he was a freshman. The actual librarians trusted him to answer basic stuff like this.

"Um, we watched this video about the Lakota tribe and some land they deserve to get back from the government. I thought I'd look into that." He paused. "Our teacher refuses to give us topic choices. Says we need to be more curious."

He smiled that adorable half-smile he has again, and Phil kind of got lost in it.

"Uh, do you think you can help me?" Clint asked, and this time he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Phil wondered if Clint was nervous at all. Why would someone be nervous talking to Phil, though? School is about the only thing he's good at, although he does play intramural basketball when he can. His buddy Jasper sits on the sidelines and makes fun of his skinny legs. Clint shifted in his shoes again, and Phil snapped out of it.

"Oh, sure! Yeah, I can help with that. We have this really good database I can show you."

They worked on Clint's paper and Phil lost track of time. Clint is an attentive student, and he asked questions that lead both of them to really exploring the topic he'd chosen. Before Phil knew it, he was sitting at a table with Clint helping him sketch out a rough outline and print out the three sources he needs for his paper.

They were working on a fourth major point for the paper when Phil got tapped on the shoulder. He looked up and the lead librarian for the night was standing there with her arms crossed over her badge and frowning down at him. The grey streak in her hair made her look especially firm. "I need you to work with more than just one student tonight, Phil," she said, and he pushed himself back from the table.

Clint looked a bit startled, but he also blushed, which made Phil's stomach do a really weird flip, and wow, he'll have to seriously rethink this whole thing later. For the moment, he stood and nodded. "Sorry. Okay," he says, and looked down at Clint. "Uh, that should get you started, right?" he asked, feeling for some weird reason like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Clint looked at his papers, over at the librarian, and back to Phil. He had a very cute and very worrisome smirk on his face. "Sure," he said, and slowly tucked his pencil behind his ear, making Phil think of a library porno Jasper and Melinda gave him as a joke gift on his last birthday. "I'll give a holler if I need any other help."

Phil nodded and sucked in a quick breath as he walked away. Now that damned porn film was on his brain, right on top of Clint, and ugh. This was not cool. He grabbed a cart of books to shelve, thinking maybe it'd get his mind off things, but it only got worse. By the time he was swiping his ID card to clock out at eleven, he'd thought of Clint in way too many different situations and circumstances.

Of course, he hadn't thought of Clint waiting for him to get off of work, but there he was, sitting on the short wall that surrounded the library, and hopping up at the sight of Phil.

"Hey, hi," Clint said, and must've noticed the way Phil was just standing there, kind of dumfounded. "Yeah, so, you mentioned the other night that you weren't interested in girlfriends, and you like the same game as me and you were really kind and patient with me earlier, so I thought maybe, since you're cute as hell on top of all that, I'd see if you maybe would get coffee or ice cream or something with me tonight or later, or, uh, not that you'd want to, but," and he stuttered to a halt.

Phil looked behind him to see if someone was pranking him or if Clint was talking to another person, because non one babbled nervously about a date at eternally single Phil Coulson, especially outside the library at eleven at night. He hugged his backpack strap a little closer and cocked his head to maybe get a better look at Clint and see if he was joking.

"See?" Clint said, pointing at Phil. "When you get curious you get this really cute look on your face and no one except Natasha just listens to my crap, they've already walked away or told their friends what an idiot I am, so maybe," he said, and shrugged.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Phil said, and he felt a little behind, like he desperately needed to catch up to the situation or he was going to miss something good. He'd figure out this Natasha person and people calling Clint an idiot after he caught up.

"Yes," Clint said, nodding furiously. "Yes, if you'd like to go." He sucked in another breath like he was going to rant some more, but then he just nodded. "Yes."

Phil walked over to him to get a better look. He definitely looked sincere. "But why?" he couldn't help asking.

Clint looked around confused this time. "I thought I said," he started.

"Okay, yes," Phil said quickly, and he wanted to slap himself. He's a college junior heading to Northwestern for grad school in a year. He should be better at this stuff than he is.

Clint grinned, and Phil blinked in surprise. That smile, turned on just for Phil and right onto Phil, was like a streetlamp popping as it blew out before a storm, and Phil smiled back.

This? This might be good. This might be awesome. This might be worth waking up a sleeping student in the library.

(In the end, he doesn't have to convince Jasper or Melinda or Nick to come to Northwestern with him. Clint comes along and gets a kick-ass internship in Chicago, and they drag Natasha along with them, and Jasper and Melinda and Nick come along, anyway.)


End file.
